We were in a rhythm at this time last year: waking, playing, nursing, snuggling, loving. I loved keeping him with me at all times. I was head over heels in love. I know some would say I spoiled him. Instead of worrying about what others thought, I wore him as frequently as possible. I neglected bulky contraptions made for babies in favor of feeling the warm baby on my chest and smelling that baby smell as I went about my daily chores. I kissed that baby every chance I got. I admired his fingers and toes. I gazed into his eyes. I enjoyed him and didn't worry about the 'bad habits' I might be creating. We connected. We loved. We cherished. Fast forward to today, he's not spoiled. He's happy, independent, social and loving. Although he hurriedly goes about his business of ring stacking, ball throwing, filling and dumping, cart pushing, cabinet inspecting and pet hugging, he's never more than a few feet away from me. He doesn't need me to entertain him, he just likes to know I'm there. We have no gates, he knows what's off limits and stays away from the stairs. He listens quite well. He plays independently, but close enough in proximity to occasionally stop his business, to come to give his mama a hug, just because. I can't imagine anything that has ever made me more happy than being his mama.
What a sweet and lovely post. He is one lucky babe to have you for a mama!
ReplyDeleteHe's such a cutie! I "spoil" my baby in the same way, and he is becoming so independent, though always checking in to make sure I see his explorations and adventures!
ReplyDeleteYou said you have no gates - do you have stairs? I'm trying to keep our stairs gate-free for lots of reasons, and so far, I'm teaching my son to ask for a hand when he wants to go down, but I can't help but be a little nervous...How do you do it?
@jacki-thanks so much! :) although i think i'm the lucky one.
ReplyDelete@vicki-i love another mama who spoils her baby! we live in a cape, so we have two flights of stairs. the one to the basement has a door and is held open a crack for the cats. if my little guy sees it, he knows to close it...which he does and they we praise him with hugs and snuggles. to go upstairs, he knows the main flight that he can only sit and play on the bottom step without a grown up. as far as the top of the stairs on the top level, it's wide open...so we don't let him wander back and forth between rooms. really we only sleep up there, there's no toys or anything exciting kept upstairs so we're not there much. we may put a gate here at some point because it's really steep and comes up as a surprise. but right now, he's perfectly content to just hang out in the same room we are in. the other dangerous place is the woodstove. he does the baby sign for hot (blowing) whenever he sees it and doesn't get close at all. i must say, i like the idea of teaching him to listen much more than putting up gate.